Journey of Avengers
by EcHiSaDa
Summary: The night of the Uchiha massacre Sasuke's goal of being noticed by his father dies and a new one is born: to kill his brother. Just three days later Hinata's mother is killed by S rank missing nin Momaru. Both want revenge and both will unite to get it...
1. Chapter 1

The night of the Uchiha massacre Sasuke's goal of being noticed by his father dies and a new one is born: to kill his brother. Just three days later Hinata's mother is killed by S rank missing nin Momaru. Both want revenge and both will unite to get it...

**Journey of Avengers**

**Prologue**

_Six Years Ago_

A young white eyed girl sat quietly in the middle of a clearing. Her short raven black hair was down and her big emotional eyes were full of unshed tears. The wind blew her hair as she cried quietly scolding herself for being so weak as to let words get to her.

The clearing she was currently in was her sacred place, it was where she went when she was sad or depressed, like she currently was. The sole reason of her being there was her father's stinging words, though they were not spoken to her.

"_She's a weak offspring, no matter how much I train her she does not progress as fast as she is supposed to. She is the heiress of my title and as such should be able to learn as much as possible before she takes over. At the rate she's going she's going be a weak leader and I will not have that!"_

Those had been the words her father had told her mother. Words that were spoken with much disappointment in the young 7 year old. The only reassurance that the young girl had of not being weak were her mother's words. Her mother had defended her like any mother would her young child.

"_I understand that you want her to be strong but you can't expect her to be powerful at such a young age. She is only five years old she will get better just be patient, I know she has potential I can feel it! It's just she has not tapped it yet."_

As the young girl remembered her mother's words she smiled a little. She couldn't help but wonder why she was so depressed over something that mattered so little. Though she highly valued her father's opinion her mother was right, she had the potential to be strong. All she needed to do was tap it and she would finally fulfill her father's expectations for an heiress. With her mind set to train to be stronger and make her father and village proud of the ninja she was going to be, the young girl stood up from her sitting position and placed her right hand on her heart.

"I will become stronger no matter what, and show my father that I'm not weak," the young girl said with a great deal of determination.

"That's a very big promise you're making there," someone said from behind her. The young girl jumped and turned around in surprise. Standing there was a young boy with raven black hair and onyx eyes.

"I'm sorry for scaring you. I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I saw you all alone and came to see if you were okay," Sasuke said with a small smile.

"It's okay, my name is Hyuuga Hinata," Hinata said with a blush. She was embarrassed and felt foolish, she hadn't expected anyone to hear her declaration.

"Why were you here by yourself?" Sasuke asked with curiosity. Hinata sighed as tears welled up in her eyes again, but none dropped. Sasuke immediately panicked and was about to apologize for being so nosy but Hinata spoke before he could.

"I heard my father telling my mother that I was weak. I know it's stupid for me to let something like that bother me but I can't help it! I'm the Hyuuga heiress and I should be stronger. I hear the servants talking with each other saying how I'm weak when I should be strong and proud to uphold my title. After I heard my father say the same things everyone else did I guess I just snapped and came here, it's where I come when I'm feeling sad."

Hinata felt a large weight lift from her shoulders after she told this almost complete stranger what had happened to her. It felt awkward to be speaking her feelings to someone she had just met, she usually kept everything bottled up inside her so that other people wouldn't look down at her for being emotionally weak.

"So you want to make your father proud, I have a dream that is sort of like that one," Sasuke said as he sat down. Sasuke understood completely what Hinata was going through for he also felt the same way. He felt inferior to his older brother Itachi because his father won't acknowledge him like he acknowledges his brother. He patted the grass beside him motioning for Hinata to sit beside him. Hinata hesitated but sat by Sasuke anyway, she was still embarrassed but she didn't want to be rude. She was also a little curious to know what Sasuke meant by a dream like hers.

"What is your dream?" Hinata asked shyly.

Sasuke stiffened a little but relaxed again, it was only fair that he told her since she had told him her problems. "I want my father to notice me for me, and not as a shadow of my brother," Sasuke stated simply as he looked ahead.

"Oh," was all Hinata could say. She looked down at her hands which were resting on her knees. "I want to make my father see that I'm not weak," she said after a moment. Sasuke turned to look at the young girl beside him as his mind started ticking.

"I have an idea to help both our dreams come true," Sasuke said with a smile. Hinata turned to him with curious eyes. "What is it?" Hinata asked.

"We could train together! Both our dream is to become stronger to prove something right? Well, if we helped each other we might get there faster!" Sasuke said with a smile as he stood up. Hinata smiled also and stood up. She had just met Sasuke and already felt like they were both close friends.

"You're right! So lets make a promise right now that we will never back down from!" Hinata said with a smile. Sasuke nodded his head and took out a kunai from his weapon holster. He cut his right palm and let some blood come out, he then passed the kunai to Hinata who took it. She cut her right palm and blood came out. They both then slapped their right hands together hard, wincing because of the pain, and began to make the promise.

"So Hinata-chan do you promise to train with me, Uchiha Sasuke, until both our dreams come true?" Sasuke asked with a smirk. Hinata smiled and said, "Yes I do! Now Sasuke-kun do you promise to train with me, Hyuuga Hinata, until both our dreams come true?" Hinata asked.

"Yes I do!" Sasuke said determinedly. Both of them smirked before they let go of each other. "We'll never go back on this promise okay Hinata-chan? It will always come before anything else!" Sasuke said. "I will never go back on my word!" Hinata said with a smile.

"Hmm, let me see the kunai," Sasuke said. Hinata gave Sasuke his kunai back and watched with curious eyes as he got down on his knees and started making a hole with the kunai.

"What are you doing?" Hinata asked as she kneeled down beside Sasuke with a confused look. "Well, I was thinking that we could use this kunai as a solid symbol of our pact. Since this is where we made our pact and this is the kunai we used to make the pact I think we should bury it here. You know how as time passes people usually forget about things they did as they were children, well if one of us ever forgets or starts forgetting we would come here take the kunai out and use it to remind each other of our promise," Sasuke explained.

"Oh, that's a very good idea Sasuke!" Hinata said with a smile as she started to help Sasuke make the hole with her bear hands. Once the whole was about six inches wide and twelve inches deep they buried the kunai.

"There done," Hinata said with a smile. They both stood up and looked at each other noticing how dirty they both were. They both laughed at each other before they started walking to their homes. Each smiling because of the new friendship they each found and because they knew deep down that with each other they would be able to reach their dreams.

_A Year Later_

A now eight year old Sasuke was running back to the Uchiha compound. It was already night and he was sure his parents were worried about him. _'I stayed out pretty late training with Hinata,'_ Sasuke thought as he ran. Suddenly though he noticed someone crouched on a light pole. He felt a wave of fear run through him and he stopped abruptly. He blinked at the pole only to see that there was no one there. Sasuke frowned, _'What was that? It felt like someone was there.'_

Suddenly he gasped in shock, _'The lights are all out... But it's not time to sleep yet..'_ Worried Sasuke broke out in a run again until he came to a turn, he took the turn and slid to a stop with a shocked expression on his face. _'This is..'_

Sasuke looked around in shock at the mess before his eyes. There were kunai stuck to the buildings along with cracks, the lights were all broken and the flags with the Uchiha symbol on them were all ripped. But what really got to him was all the blood splattered everywhere he looked.

"What is this?" Sasuke asked himself still in shock. He started running toward home again, "What is going on?"

As he ran further he found the bodies of his Uncle and Aunt sprawled on the ground dead. He stopped as he looked at them, it felt as if his heart was being held in a tight grip. His face concocted in one of fear and disgust as he watched the scene before him.

"Father! Mother!" Sasuke said in fear as he broke into a run again toward his home. He needed to go make sure they were okay, he didn't want to believe what he had seen earlier, he needed to see his family!

He quickly reached his home and quickly slid the door open. He gulped as he stood there with the door open not daring to go in. "Mother? Father?" he called. He walked in slowly taking his shoes off as he did so. He slowly walked to each room looking for them, fearing for their lives. Suddenly he heard sounds from his parent's room. As he ran he tripped twice, he wanted to get to his parents, he didn't want to believe they were in pain. He stopped in front of the door to their room and reached out for the handle but quickly took his hand back in fear, the air around him felt thick and the fear seemed to have tripled.

He stood in front of the door shaking too scared to go inside. "Someone's in there..." he said out loud as he heard a sound come from the room. He was panting for air as he waited outside. "Move," he commanded his body but his body just wouldn't listen it didn't move.

"Move..Move!" Sasuke said again more desperately his body seemed to have listened for he took a small step forward and his hand reached for the handle again. His other hand followed suit and he opened the door scared of what he would find inside.

"Mother! Father!" Sasuke said as he ran inside. He came to a stop the door closing behind him. There in front of him was the bloody mess of his parents, his father was sprawled on the floor dead, and his mother was on top of his father. Sasuke watched in shock and in denial. Soon steps could be held and out of the shadows his brother, Itachi, came out. With each step Itachi took toward Sasuke he moved back. His brother came to a stop and so did Sasuke his back almost flat against the door behind him.

Sasuke looked at his brother in fear and disbelief. "Brother!" Sasuke said desperately. "Brother! Father and mother are... Why?! How?! Who did this to-!" suddenly Itachi threw a star shuriken at Sasuke who quickly shut up in shock. The star shuriken flew at Sasuke and imbedded itself on the door. What was his brother doing?! Sasuke watched in shock without moving a muscle, suddenly his shirt ripped at the shoulder and blood spurt out. Sasuke winced and clutched his shoulder in pain.

"Brother! What are.." Sasuke once again shut up, the look his brother was giving him was enough to make his muscles stop moving again. "What are you doing brother?!" Sasuke asked with newfound courage.

"Foolish little brother," Itachi stated as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again a few veins were visible and his three extra pupils merged together to form a swirl in his eyes. Sasuke watched in horror as his brother did this movement, the fear he felt before was nothing compared to what he was feeling now. Soon everything turned red and the light pole Sasuke had seen earlier appeared in his vision. Shuriken flew and connected with the bodies of some of the Uchiha clan members. Sasuke screamed in terror and confusion, he didn't know what was going on!

"Stop it!" Sasuke screamed in agony. His heart felt like it was breaking in pieces as he watched the slaughter going on before his eyes. He gripped his head tight and shook it from side to side. "Brother! Don't show me this!" he screamed. The images going on before him changed and instead of the slaughter his brother stood in front of him watching with emotionless eyes.

"Why? Why did you-?" Sasuke screamed again as the images of the slaughter appeared before him again. Soon the images were gone and Sasuke collapsed to the floor his mouth drooling. He panted heavily as he lay there in fear. His eyes widened suddenly and he asked again, "Why...? Why did you.." He looked up to see his brother looking down at him.

"To test my capacity," his brother replied simply. "Measure...Your capacity? That's all. For that alone everyone.." Sasuke said in disbelief.

"It was necessary."

Sasuke started to stand up, his anger was building up. "What was... Don't play with me!" Sasuke yelled angrily as he stood up fully and ran at his brother to attack. Itachi simply punched Sasuke in the stomach not even letting Sasuke get too close. Sasuke fell down and his eyes started to well up with tears, he couldn't believe what his brother was doing, what his brother had done! His tears ran down his face as he realized something, _'I'm scared..'_ Sasuke stood up and ran away from his brother fear clutching his young heart. _'I'm scared!'_ Sasuke thought in panic.

Sasuke ran out of the house and donned his shoes on. As he ran he tripped over his feet, but he didn't pay attention he just wanted to get as far away from his brother as possible. The tears didn't stop flowing as he ran, he screamed in agony and fear. "Don't kill me!" Sasuke screamed.

Sasuke came to an abrupt stop for his brother stood in front of him not letting him get any further. Sasuke panted as he looked up at his brother, the glare he was receiving was making him even more scared.

"This must be a lie. This is not how my brother is. Because..." Sasuke couldn't finish his sentence for Itachi spoke over him. "I played the role of older brother you wanted to test your capacity." Sasuke looked up at his brother in shock.

"The one who will test my capacity... You have that potential. You thought of me as unpleasant and hated me. You've always wanted to surpass me. That's why I'm going to let you live. For my sake. You are also capable of activating the Magenkyou Sharingan.. But there is a requirement as well. Your closest friend, you must kill him."

"No way," Sasuke said in disbelief. "Like I have."

"Brother you... Then you..? To Shusui-san?" Sasuke asked in disbelief. "That's right, and because of that I was able to obtain these eyes. At the main temple of the Nakano Shrine, underneath the seventh tatami mat on the far right side is the clan's secret meeting place. There you'll find the history of the Uchiha clan's dojutsu. And for what purpose it exists. The real secret is there.

"The real.. Secret?"

"If you can activate it, the number of people, including me, who can use the Magenkyou Sharingan will be three. If that happens there is a reason to let you live. But at the moment you aren't worth killing." Sasuke gasped at his brothers words and took a small step back.

"My foolish little brother. If you want to kill me despise me, hate me, and live a loathsome life. Run away, run away and cling to life. And someday when you have the same eyes as I do come before me." Itachi said in a voice so cold that with each word he was freezing Sasuke's heart slowly.

With those words Itachi reactivated his Mangekyou Sharingan and before Sasuke knew it he was falling forward.

_Two Days Later_

A young eight year old boy with emotionless onyx eyes and raven black hair sat quietly in the middle of a clearing. He stared at the distance with the images of his slaughtered clan, mother, and father playing and replaying in his head. His brother's words were stuck with permanent glue in the back of his head.

"Run away, run away and cling to life," Sasuke whispered quietly. Sasuke sighed as his eyes watered. _'Why do I keep crying? When will I run out of tears?'_ Sasuke wondered as slowly but surely his heart was growing thick layers of ice around it. Sasuke sighed again as he willed himself to not let his tears fall anymore.

Sasuke felt arms slowly wrap themselves around his neck and someone bury their face against his neck. He sighed and closed his eyes. He didn't have to ask to know who the person was, he had been expecting her to come earlier than this.

"It's nice of you to show up," Sasuke croaked bitterly. His voice was sore from lack of use and from all the crying he had been doing for the last two days. He had grown bitter toward Hinata for not even bothering to come to him when he was in the hospital, and for taking this long to come to him. The pain he had been feeling the last few days was intensified because of that, because of the fact that the only person he had left that he cared about hadn't even shown up to see him.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't know, I haven't been to the academy in two days because my mother is sick and my father wanted me to stay with her. I told you that the... the day it happened before you went home remember. I didn't find out until today, I was looking for you the whole time. I went to... to your home. I looked in every house and you weren't there and then...then I came here and I found you. I'm so sorry, so sorry. I didn't know...I just didn't... didn't know!" Hinata cried against his neck. Her voice sounded full of pain and sorrow, she was really meaning what she was saying.

Sasuke sighed and put his head on his knees. They both stayed in that position for some time, both crying because even though it was Sasuke's family loss Hinata felt almost the same kind of pain from watching Sasuke's pain.

Hinata sighed and let go of Sasuke, after a while longer, then sat by him and laid her head on his shoulder. Both their eyes were red from crying and their faces were tear stained.

"Was it Itachi?" Hinata asked softly. Sasuke flinched at the mention of his brother's name and nodded his head slowly. "Why...Why did he do it?" Hinata asked with a sob. "He said he wanted to test his capacity, he also said he left me alive because I have the potential to test his capacity. He left me alive to be the Uchiha Avenger," Sasuke said through gritted teeth.

Hinata gasped and turned her head to look at Sasuke. Her eyes were wide in shock, she couldn't believe what Sasuke was telling her, it sounded so unlike the Itachi she had once met. Her eyes teared again as she watched Sasuke's face. It was full of pain, hatred, and determination she had never seen anyone with that face and she definitely didn't want to see Sasuke with it.

"Sasuke I... I..." Hinata sighed unable to put what she was thinking into words. She looked down at the ground and then back at Sasuke who was looking at her with piercing eyes. She took in a deep breath and stood up she walked a few feet away from Sasuke and kneeled down next to a prairie flower and started digging there. Sasuke watched her already knowing what she wanted to tell him.

Soon Hinata dug out a dirty kunai and went back to Sasuke. She showed it to him with pure determination in her eyes. "I won't go back on my word Sasuke and I hope you don't too. Your dreams have somewhat changed but even so the promise still withstands," Hinata said. Sasuke looked down at the kunai and then back up at Hinata speechless. He thought that after knowing how his brother had so easily defeated the most prestigious clan in Konoha, Hinata would try to make him change his mind about taking revenge. He couldn't help the small smile that graced his lips as he shook his head and then looked at Hinata again.

"I won't go back on my word either," Sasuke said.

The next day both shinobi-soon-to-be found themselves in the same situation as the night before, with another loss, another death, another reason to become stronger and fight for what they both wanted: revenge. Sasuke wasn't the only one who had lost people dear to him for Hinata's mother was assassinated by S-rank missing ninja Mamoru of Iwa. The only thing in both their minds now was to become stronger, both out to seek revenge on the deaths of their loved ones. Both wanted to help each other get what they wanted for they both felt what is was like to lose someone important to you.

* * *

Author's Note: This is my first attempt at a fanfic so please be nice. Please review and tell me what you think! 

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.


	2. Gennin

The night of the Uchiha massacre Sasuke's goal of being noticed by his father dies and a new one is born: to kill his brother. Just three days later Hinata's mother is killed by S rank missing nin Momaru. Both want revenge and both will unite to get it...

Journey of Avengers

Chapter 1: Gennin

Five Years Later

"Hyuuga Hinata." Hinata heard her name being called and couldn't help the nervousness that overtook her. She was about to take her gennin exam and was scared she would do bad in it. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. She opened them again with a determined look in her eyes and a look on concentration. She stood up from her seat and walked down the isle toward the door where Mizuki-sensei was, holding the door open for her.

As she reached the door she turned to look at one person and one person only. Her eyes looked up to the upper right corner of the room where her closest friend sat looking straight back at her. He nodded his head at her once as their eyes locked. Hinata stood straight and nodded back before bracing herself and walking inside the examination room. That one look had given her the confidence she badly needed to go through the test.

Inside Hinata looked around the room. Her other teacher, Iruka, was sitting behind a table with Konoha headbands placed neatly on top. He had a clipboard in his hands and was smiling warmly at her. Mizuki-sensei walked around the table and sat on a chair beside Iruka.

"Well Hinata what we need you to do is make three Bunshin and you pass the exam," Iruka said warmly.

Hinata nodded her head slow and performed the correct seals to perform the jutsu. She took a deep breath and whispered, "Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A cloud of smoke covered her for a second when it disappeared four identical Hinata were standing in the same position with a look of great concentration.

"Alright Hinata you pass! Come to this table and take one of these headbands, from now on you are considered a shinobi of Konoha," Iruka stated with a bright smile, Mizuki was smiling beside Iruka too.

Hinata smiled happily as she released the jutsu. She walked over to the table and bowed to the two men before she took a headband and walked out of the room. Once she was out of the examination room she walked happily over to where Sasuke was. She ignored all the glares she was receiving from his fangirls and sat down beside him.

"How easy was it?" Sasuke asked. "Piece of cake. You were right I shouldn't have worried about it," Hinata stated as she tied her hitae-ate around her neck. Sasuke smirked and nodded his head. The relationship between the two hadn't changed at all in the six years they've known each other. Their personalities though took a huge change. Sasuke wasn't the happy normal boy he used to be when Hinata had first met him, Sasuke was quiet and didn't talk much to people, he was known for being cold toward others and caring only about himself. Hinata was less cold than Sasuke for she actually answered people when they spoke to her, but otherwise she was quiet and only talked to Sasuke. People would categorize her as shy.

"Hinata you do know that once I pass this exam our real training will begin right?" Sasuke asked quietly. He had his hands in his pockets and was leaning back on his chair in a relaxed position.

"Yes I know. You say that as if you want me to back down, you're not the only avenger remember?" Hinata said as she turned to look at him. "Hn, just telling you because what we've done so far-"

"Is nothing compared to what will come next. I know, I know don't remind me. I just hope that what will come next is going to be enough to prepare us," Hinata said with a far away look in her eyes.

"Hn."

"Uchiha Sasuke," Mizuki called. "Good luck," Hinata said as she watched Sasuke stand up to go take his exam. Squeals of excitement were heard throughout the classrooms as fangirls took out badly drawn posters with Sasuke's name on them and cheered him on. Hinata smiled and shook her head at the craziness. _'He's not a god, jeez get over him,'_ Hinata thought.

"GO SASUKE-KUN!" a loud pink haired girl cheered loudly as she jumped up and down.

"So loud," Hinata whispered to herself before she put her head down on the table and waited patiently for Sasuke to come back out of the testing room.

"Bah, I hope he fails," Hinata heard someone grumble from the sit behind hers. She turned around and looked at Naruto who had a an annoyed expression on his face, his eyes though seemed sad.

"You still think bad of Sasuke-kun?" Hinata asked quietly. Naruto turned to her and sighed. "Who cares what I think it's not like it's going to change anything," Naruto said grumpily. "Yeah true but talking about it might help," Hinata said. Hinata sympathized with Naruto, she knew of the way that most of the villagers treated him. It was with hate, a hate that she couldn't understand at all for Naruto was just like any other normal villager. She knew that they would always put his spirits down and discourage him, it was like it used to be for her when she was younger and the servants of the household would treat her badly.

"Bah, Sasuke-teme's just a show off if it wasn't because his family got all killed then he wouldn't be as loved as he is now," Naruto answered.

Hinata narrowed her eyes at Naruto after what he said the urge to slap him great but she restrained herself. _'How could he even say that? What does he know what it feels like to lose everyone you love?'_ Hinata thought angrily.

"Take those words back," Hinata whispered fiercely. Naruto sighed and then glared at her. "No I won't take them back you wanted to know how I felt about Sasuke and I told you, its your fault for wanting to know. I'm tired of everyone sticking up for him, of everyone admiring him when all he did was be the sole survivor of that massacre," Naruto said waiting for the slap that was soon going to come. He was a little surprised when it never came.

"**You** don't know what it's like to lose everyone you **love**, you don't know what it's like to be all **alone** so you can't go talking about something like that as if it was nothing. The last thing Sasuke wants is the attention he gets just because his family got **assassinated**, it's a **reminder** of that day for him to have people give him everything he wants. You don't know what's like to have seen your family **murdered** in front of you and not have been able to do **anything **about it," Hinata said fiercely making sure that only Naruto heard what she was saying.

Naruto's glare intensified ten-fold after Hinata finished, if looks could kill Hinata wouldn't have lasted another day. "You're right I don't know what it's like to lose everyone I love since I've never had anyone to love or that loved me," Naruto said coldly. _'It's always going to be this way so I might as well get used to it. I'll always be the bad guy for no reason,'_ Naruto thought sadly.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Mizuki called.

Naruto didn't wait for Hinata to say anything else he stood up and walked away from her passing by Sasuke who was heading toward Hinata as he did so. As they walked by each other both of them locked eyes a silent exchange passed before they both headed their own way.

Hinata watched as Naruto entered the examination room in shock. "Why does he even try he's just going to fail again. This is his third try you know." Hinata heard someone say. _'I didn't... I didn't know,'_ Hinata thought her eyes fixed on Naruto until the door closed behind him.

"You were right that was a piece of cake," Sasuke stated as he sat back down in his seat and tied his hitae-ate on his head. Hinata didn't answer him she was still staring at the closed door where Naruto had just disappeared through.

"Hinata? Is something wrong?" Sasuke asked as he looked over at Hinata. "Sasuke, what do you know about Naruto?" Hinata asked her eyes still locked on the door.

"Only that he's a loser why?" Sasuke asked curiously. Hinata had never shown interest in anyone before and he couldn't help but wonder why she was showing interest in Naruto. "Because I didn't know he was an orphan," Hinata muttered with a sigh.

* * *

Sasuke and Hinata quietly walked side by side out of the academy. Both of them had passed their gennin exams and had been instructed by Iruka to meet at the academy again tomorrow to meet their jounin sensei. Sasuke's expression hardened at the sight of all the parents and their children, all of them were so happy it annoyed him. Hinata just smiled at the scene feeling just a tiny bit sad that her father wasn't there to congratulate her for graduating second next to Sasuke.

As they made their way through the crowd Hinata noticed a lone figure sitting on a the swing in front of the academy. On closer inspection she noticed it was Naruto and he was looking at everyone with a sad expression on his face. She noticed that he didn't have a Konoha head band and suddenly it came to her. _'He didn't pass the exam,'_ Hinata thought sadly.

"Seems like the dobe didn't pass," Sasuke said with a shake of his head. "Yeah. Hey Sasuke why not... Why not let Naruto train with us?" Hinata asked suddenly as she looked up at Sasuke.

Sasuke turned to her with an incredulous look on his face, "Why would we do that? He would just slow us down and that's the last thing we need."

"Yeah, but just look at him. He's only like that because there has never been anyone there to help him just imagine what it would have been like for you if you had noone," Hinata pleaded, ever since Naruto's outburst before he took his exam Hinata had been feeling guilty and she didn't want to feel like that anymore.

"Hinata stop feeling pity don't you remember what happened all those years ago, don't you want to get stronger faster and take revenge for what happened to your mother?" Sasuke asked annoyed. The last thing he wanted was someone to drag down the progress they had been making.

"Yeah I guess," Hinata said with a sigh as she looked away from Sasuke and back to Naruto. Sasuke sighed in annoyance before he crossed his arms on his chest and walked away. "Hn, do whatever you want," Sasuke said without stopping to look back as he said this. Hinata smiled knowing that was his way of saying 'okay go ahead'. Without wasting a second Hinata began walking toward Naruto.

Naruto looked up to see her approaching and glared at her. Hinata sighed noticing the look he was giving her and closed her eyes for a second. _'There's no reason to feel threatened I would be mad too if I was in his position,'_ Hinata thought as she let a small smile grace her lips as she stopped in front of him.

"What do you want? To make fun of me like everyone else?" Naruto asked angrily. Hinata shook her head before taking a deep breath a look of determination on her features. "Nope, I don't like making fun of people. I came to apologize for what I said earlier about you being such an inconsiderate person. I just won't let anyone insult Sasuke because I know what he has been through since I went through it with him. But you shouldn't think bad of him because it's not as if he asks to be admired or adored it's the people that decide that not him. I also have a proposition for you," Hinata said making sure Naruto understood she wasn't going to let anyone accuse her friend of something he had no control over.

"Che, whatever. I don't care about your proposition," Naruto said irritably. The way Hinata put the things he had said earlier was making him feel bad and it wasn't as if what she was saying was going to make him change his mind about Sasuke.

Hinata glared at Naruto and crossed her arms annoyed, here she was trying to be nice and he was just being rude to her. She was about to leave and forget she had even bothered to be nice to him but Naruto's next words stopped her before she could move. "You're probably just trying to play some prank on me anyway."

Hinata noticed Naruto's change of expression from angry to sad once again and her previous thoughts of leaving left her. She sighed and put one hand on her hip. "Well, even if you don't care about my proposition I'll tell you what it is anyway. I was just wondering if you wanted to train with Sasuke and me. I noticed that you didn't pass the exam and we thought that if we helped you train you could pass the next one," Hinata said.

She noticed Naruto's disbelieving look at the 'we' part of her statement and sighed in exasperation. "Fine **I** thought that if we helped you train you'd pass the next exam. But just think about it, it would be better than training by yourself. If you're interested meet us at the bridge at three," Hinata said and then started walking away where Sasuke was impatiently waiting for her.

Naruto watched her leave with a shocked expression. He didn't know if to believe her or not since everything 'nice' people have tried to do for him happened to be killing attempts on his life. As he watched Hinata walk away, he couldn't help the small smile that graced his lips,

Naruto sighed and stood up from the swing. He put his hands in his pockets and walked away from the happy families and their children. He looked ahead and noticed Sasuke and Hinata walking together and her words came back to him. _'Should I really take the chance to get hurt again?'_ Naruto wondered.

With another sigh Naruto took the next turn and started to make his way back to his apartment, his heart felt heavy due to the fact that once again he didn't pass the gennin exam. "It's all so unfair I tried my best and I still failed," Naruto said grumpily.

"Oi, Naruto!" Naruto heard his name being called and looked around looking for the person who had called him. He noticed his sensei Mizuki running toward him in a hurry. "Yes, Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked not bothering to cover up his sadness with his usual cheerfulness.

"Thank god I managed to catch up with you. I need to talk to you about something," Mizuki stated with a warm smile.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and nodded his head at his teacher. "What is it?" Naruto asked. "Let's take a walk I'll tell you as we do," Mizuki stated as he walked ahead. Naruto gave the back of his teacher a quizzical look but followed him anyway. _'I haven't done anything yet, I wonder what he wants,'_ Naruto thought as he watched Mizuki's back suspiciously.

"Naruto I sympathize with you and I want to give you another chance. I don't believe that Iruka was right in failing you," Mizuki stated simply as he looked down at Naruto with a sincere smile.

Naruto stopped in his tracks and stared at Mizuki in shock, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What... What do you mean?" Naruto asked in a whisper. Mizuki laughed at Naruto's expression and shook his head, "I mean exactly that Naruto. I want you to have another chance at being a gennin. Now are you willing to take it or no?"

Naruto beamed up at Mizuki and nodded his head vigorously in excitement. _'I can't believe this! I can become gennin, I won't miss any chances that I get!'_ Naruto thought happily.

"Yes Mizuki-sensei I want to do my gennin test over," Naruto exclaimed happily. "Alright I'll tell you a little secret," Mizuki began with a pleased expression.

* * *

"What time did you tell that dobe to meet us?" Sasuke asked coldly. He was completely against the idea of having someone else train with them but he knew that Hinata would find a way to help Naruto, even if he didn't agree to it, so he decided it would be better for him to know what was going on.

"Three. He should be here soon stop being so grumpy! Plus you never know maybe with another person training with us we could be able to advance faster," Hinata said happily.

"Hn, I would believe that if only the person training with us wasn't the dead last," Sasuke said with his eyes closed. "Aw! Come on give him a chance you never know, maybe he has some good techniques we can learn," Hinata said.

"If he did wouldn't you think he would have passed such a simple exam?" Sasuke countered. Hinata stuck her tongue out at him and looked away giving up her resolve to change Sasuke's mind. She knew nothing she said would work.

Ten minutes later Sasuke was more than annoyed, they were both wasting useful time waiting for some idiot who was probably not even going to show up. "Hinata it's nine past three he should be here by now," Sasuke said angrily. He didn't want to wait around like an idiot for another idiot, he wanted to go train and improve himself.

Hinata sighed and shook her head,

"HEY!" someone yelled. Sasuke and Hinata snapped out of their thoughts and turned to the source of the noise, to their surprise they saw Naruto running toward them with a huge smile on his face. Hinata threw a smug look at Sasuke who just rolled his eyes at her.

"Hey, Naruto! We thought you weren't going to come at all," Hinata said with a small smile. Naruto stopped in front of them doubled over panting. "Yeah... I thought so too," Naruto said after he regained his composure.

"Whatever lets go," Sasuke said impatiently. Hinata nodded and started walking away with Sasuke while Naruto just stood there looking after them. "Go where?" Naruto asked suspiciously. "Training..." Sasuke answered slowly.

"Training where?" Naruto asked even more suspiciously. "We can't tell anyone, or more people will find it so we'll show you to it. No one can know of this place, it's the only way to keep it empty for us to train," Hinata answered as best she could without giving away the location they were going to go to. The fact was that the topic of the place they were going to was a soft spot for Sasuke, and she had promised long ago not to tell anyone of it.

Sasuke was glaring at Hinata as she spoke. Naruto noticed this and crossed his arm s defiantly. "How do I know this isn't some trap?" Naruto asked rudely.

"A trap? A trap for what?" Hinata asked completely baffled by that question. Sasuke just raised an eyebrow at Naruto's "stupid" statement.

"Nothing, forget it," Naruto said dumbly while rubbing his head. _'Great, now they think I'm a weirdo,'_ Naruto thought with a sigh.

"Um, okay," Hinata said with a nod before she and Sasuke started walking again. Naruto sighed again and followed after them. _'I guess it won't kill me to give them a chance. Maybe they aren't trying to kill me, maybe they're different. Well at least Hinata,'_ Naruto thought.

* * *

Author's Note: Here's the second chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it, please tell me what you think about it and a few suggestions if you have any!

Thanks to: crazy beautiful, campknight364, blue-shine-angel, silverblade219, DarkSmile, TONI, Dark Wolf on a full Blood, and kenshinlover2002 for reviewing! Thanks to Dark Wolf on a full Blood, DarkSmile, Wyld Stallyns, and blu3saphire for adding me to their favorites list! I'm really happy that all of you took time to do those things for this story!


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